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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Potter's Field, Florence, NE

Potter Field 1887-1957

“Enter with reverence and respect for the 3,912 soles who are buried in this five and one half acres of ground. These nearly forgotten citizens of past history were in their own way responsible for the building of the West. Do not desecrate their memory.”

There are few markers here as the buried (mostly children under the age of 2) were too poor to afford burials in regular cemeteries. This cemetery fell into a state of deterioration from the 1950’s through the 1980’s. In 1986, a volunteer group came in and re-consecrated the area adding a meditation garden and a partial list of individuals buried here, including Willy Brown who was lynched in downtown omaha in 1919. The City of Omaha now maintains this property, not Forest Lawn Cemetery which is literally a stone shot away.